Side Effect
by Dark Ice Dragon
Summary: Tao knew about the possibility of side effects. This one? Had never crossed his mind.
1. Part 1

**Summary**: Tao knew about the possibility of side effects. This one? Had never crossed his mind.

Set after the second season.

* * *

**************Side Effect**

By Dark Ice Dragon

* * *

Tao's ears twitched as he walked down the corridor, grinning gleefully. Not his human ears, but his triangular cat ears that had replaced them - he'd even gained a long supple tail and retractable claws to boot (he was going to have to ask M-21 about them, because as much fun as having claws was, accidently shredding your own clothes when trying to put them on was _not_)! Tao wasn't sure if the side effect had also affected his mind – he was beginning to suspect so, because he hadn't been worried in the slightest when he'd discovered his changes, but that might have been because he knew Boss was in the house.

He ducked into the lab, and he could feel his ears twist around as he tried to pinpoint where the Boss was. Footsteps to his left, a small hum. Huh, he could get used to his better range.

"Ah, Tao, there you are – you wanted to…"

Boss' eyebrows were raised behind his glasses, and Tao's tail did a little _flick _at his expression.

"Heh, yeah," he said, nodding as he rubbed the back of his head, making sure to do that with his knuckles. "I kinda woke up like this; I guess I had a weird reaction to one of your upgrades." Because there was no way Boss could have made a mistake.

The Boss was staring at his tail, one hand raised as he stroked his chin. "I hadn't seen any hints of this…" he murmured, coming closer.

Wow, that was a surprise. And a little worrying. "So I haven't got a werecat's liver or something?" he joked, his tone light. If it wasn't from something that was already there, then how had it happened?

"No, definitely not," Boss said firmly as he peered at the rest of Tao's changes. "You don't know what your tail is associated with?"

Tao twisted around, trying to look at his tail again. His fur was black, the same colour as his hair, while the tips of it white, but the thing that had confused him the most when he'd first seen it was how his tail split into two near the end – but it was fully formed, didn't hurt and was covered in fur, so Tao wasn't sure what exactly to make of it.

"I was supposed to grow two tails?" And that reminded him of something he'd read a while ago, but he couldn't quite place what it was exactly.

The Boss shook his head. "A tail like that can be a symbol of a nekomata."

A nekomata. Huh. Tao could recognise parts of the word being Japanese and having the literal translation of 'forked cat', but other than that…

"Well, we'll see if this is a side effect first and if we're able to reverse it," the Boss said, leading him to the scanner, "or if there is something else at play here."

Tao nodded, his tail swishing easily behind him as he followed. It wouldn't bother him _too_ much if the process wasn't reversible (all he had to do was stuff his tail down the back of his trousers and wear a hat) – what he wanted to know was if the adage about cats and dogs was going to hold true.

* * *

Written for the No True Pair prompt, 'Frankenstein and Tao: transformation of some kind (genderswitch? body swap? species shift?)'

If I can't write the LSK cat-verse, then I'll stick cat ears and a tail on someone else! *huff*

I considered giving Tao some nekomata-type powers, but figured that would be a little too much for a short fic like this. XD So, either they pop up later, or I'll write the 'everything's happening at once aaaaaa what's going on?' version XD


	2. Part 2

**Summary**: Tao was wearing a hat.

I guess this ties in with my Pace the Night/wolf!M-21 'verse.

Written for the No True Pair prompt, 'Tao needs help that only M-21 can provide'.Set after the second season.

* * *

**************Side Effect**

By Dark Ice Dragon

* * *

Tao was wearing a hat. That was the first thing M-21 noticed when Tao knocked on his door, before he was suddenly struck by the fact that there was something _different _about Tao. Confused, M-21 continued to stare at him, trying to understand what had made him think that, but other than the hat, M-21 couldn't see anything.

"M-21?"

He shook his head, feeling like he'd been staring for too long. Tao was wearing a hat (a black one with a rim that went around it completely) – it just meant he was trying something new like he always did.

But Tao's grin was smaller than usual, muted, and that was when M-21 realised Tao was holding back, keeping his distance at the doorway and. That wasn't like him _at all_.

"What's wrong?" M-21 asked, frowning. Maybe that was what he had picked up on? Tao didn't look like he was hurt, just a little more reserved.

And Tao's grin went wide again like how it normally was, his body relaxing. "Nooothing much, really," he drawled, meandering closer, and there was something in the way Tao moved now, an almost slink to his stride that made the wolf at the back of M-21's mind perk up. Before he could stop himself, M-21 leaned forwards and breathed in heavily.

_Cat_, the wolf identified triumphantly. "You smell like a cat," M-21 said in a daze, trying to wrestle his instincts back before they made him _do_ something. Tao was his comrade; he belonged there – the cat, on the other hand, was invading his _territory_, and he could feel the wolf bristle. When had Tao been near a cat though? Unless there had been one at his window this morning? Which didn't really matter because he really shouldn't be thinking in terms of _territory _or cats invading it!

"Haha, yeah," Tao said, lifting his hat to reveal a pair of black cat ears sitting on top of his head, and M-21 started to stare again. "I woke up like this."

And that was a _tail_ twining into view, a tail that split into two near the tip. It wasn't that Tao had been near a cat; Tao _was _a cat. That seemed to knock the wolf instincts sideways as it tried to make sense of the conflicting information.

"You okay?"

M-21 dragged his eyes up to Tao's face, incredulous. "I'm not the one who spontaneously grew new appendages." M-21 had never done that in his sleep, and if Tao was still like this after waking up… It had to be different from his own.

Tao snickered, waving a hand. "Boss is looking into it now, so we'll find out soon if I have to wear this all the time or not." Tao practically dropped himself on the bed next to M-21 before yelping and scrambling away a second later.

"What-"

Tao burst out laughing, his tail whipping around like it had a mind of its own, his ears flat only briefly. "Maybe getting used to having a tail isn't going to be as easy as I thought!" Tao wheezed.

M-21 let out a long breath, tension easing from him. "You sat on it…?"

"Heh, yep." Gingerly, Tao started to sit up again but then froze. "Oh, whoops," Tao said quietly, looking down at his hands.

"What is it?" M-21 asked, trying to peer at what Tao was staring at.

"Uh, yeah," Tao said, sitting up and turning towards M-21, a rueful smile on his lips, "other than showing you my ears, I'd wanted to ask you about your claws."

His claws…? M-21 glanced down at Tao's hands and – ah, so he hadn't just gained ears and a tail. "You can control them?" he asked, wanting to take a closer look. Tao's claws weren't as long as his own but if they were able to – M-21 looked at where Tao's hands _used _to be and winced, seeing the torn blanket. Frankenstein wasn't going to be happy about that. Maybe he could replace them before Frankenstein found out...

"Not really," Tao answered, shaking his head as he flexed his fingers, carefully making sure the claws didn't come in contact with his own skin. "You should see what I did to my first shirt when I tried to put on."

M-21 could all too easily imagine the mess that had been caused by it, but the rest of what Tao said distracted him from that image. "You're asking me to…teach you?" That couldn't be right. Why would Tao be asking _him_?

"Yep." Tao nodded. "I've never had to transform with my thoughts before."

Ah, well, that did explain it. "I can try," he said doubtfully, studying Tao's claws. They weren't the same, so maybe what he did wouldn't work for Tao but still. Tao had asked for his help.

"Awesome, thanks!" And then Tao threw himself at him, making them both tumble over, a purr rumbling out Tao's throat. They froze, Tao on top of M-21, and they were close enough that M-21 could see that Tao's eyes were slitted now.

"Uh, I guess there's more to this than just physical changes, huh?" Tao said weakly as he pushed himself off.

M-21 just eyed Tao for a second before feeling a small smile tug at his lips as he sat up. "So long as you keep your mind during the full moon…" he teased quietly.

Tao blinked at him before throwing his head back and laughing again. "Oh, man, Takeo would have his hands full if we were both out of it at the same time!" He shook his head once he'd contained his laughter. "Boss said my tail" –which flicked onto M-21's lap as if to make a point- "is like a nekomata's - I don't think they're associated with the moon phases."

That was for the best. Tao looked at him curiously when he stood up. "I feel hungrier after transforming," M-21 said as an explanation, waiting for Tao to follow him. It had taken him a while to realise that since usually when he had to transform, he was injured afterwards and he'd been distracted with other sensations. If he got hungry from just transforming his hands, Tao's transformation should have a bigger effect.

After they had breakfast, then they'd see if he could teach Tao.

* * *

Of course I wrote in more wolf instincts! This is me we're talking about, haha! XD; (And of course I want to write them both going instinctual at the same time now. XD;;;)

*sigh* I'd wanted _someone_ to play with Tao's ears but the only person open enough to do that is _Tao_. Possibly Takeo, but that's it. =/ Or they have to be more used to Tao's changes before they will. XD

Also, I really do just cut fics short, don't I. :/


	3. Part 3

**Summary**: Tao was acting a little sneaky. This is not a good sign.

* * *

**************Side Effect**

By Dark Ice Dragon

* * *

The door behind Takeo opened slowly and he twisted around in that direction, leaving the TV remote where it was. Someone acting cautious in the household was never a good sign, for one reason or another. When he saw it was _Tao_ on the other side of the door, peering through the crack, Takeo amended his previous thoughts – Tao acting cautious was never a good sign for _everyone else _and a signal to get out of the vicinity as soon as possible.

Before Takeo could do anything, Tao gestured, asking if Frankenstein was in the room.

…He should get out before Tao roped him into this new plan. If Tao was worried about pissed off Frankenstein, it wasn't something Takeo wanted to be a part of. Even though, Takeo shook his head, and Tao relaxed, pushing the door open fully.

Tao was wearing a hat. A completely black one that was the same colour as Tao's hair, blending into it easily. Behind him, M-21 was clutching a stuffed black bag in his arms.

Takeo raised his eyebrows at Tao. "You're finally clearing out your room?" he asked dryly, eyeing the bag. The situation was off though – Tao wouldn't ask M-21 to carry his things without also carrying some of it himself, and M-21's expression wasn't the resigned one where he'd been bulldozed into going with Tao's plan – he was _worried_, his posture stiff and he kept double-checking behind him.

"Pfft, no!" Tao declared, shaking his head. Takeo was surprised the hat didn't even more; it didn't look like it was sitting that snuggly on top of his head. Then again, this was Tao – he'd probably modified it in some way. "I need all that stuff."

He just snorted lightly at that, but he let the topic drop. They could talk discuss having space in your own room later. "What happened?" he asked, nodding the bag as M-21 headed towards the front door.

"My sheets got shredded," M-21 said. _His _sheets had been shredded? Takeo stiffened before he frowned – there couldn't have been a fight (he would have heard the commotion and Tao and M-21 weren't holding themselves like they were injured) but the thought of M-21 accidently doing that didn't seem right to Takeo either. But M-21's wariness suddenly made a whole lot more sense; if Frankenstein found out about that…

"Heh, yeah, my fault," Tao admitted, draping himself over the back of the sofa, waggling his fingers close to Takeo's face.

Takeo rolled his eyes. "What did you do?" Tao's nails were different. They were still the same black colour, but they were longer than usual, ending at a long point. They even curved downwards and Takeo just stared at them, puzzled. Why had he changed his nails to emulate M-21's?

Except while Takeo was studying them, Tao's nails shortened and the points changed until they looked completely normal, round at the end.

Takeo hissed, his eyes darting up to Tao's face. Who now had slitted pupils.

"Weeell, it was an accident," Tao said, waving his hand and Takeo couldn't help but track its movement, expecting fur to sprout all over it.

"You suddenly grew claws and shredded M-21's sheets," Takeo said, his voice flat, causing Tao to snicker. He should be more worried about Tao's sudden change, but…neither Tao or M-21 were (the damage was something else). And he knew Tao – he would have gone straight to Frankenstein.

"What did he say?"

"Boss?" Tao didn't wait for him to confirm before continuing. "He's running a couple of tests right now – he's fairly certain _what _I am – he's just not sure how it happened." Then Tao lifted his hat away to reveal…cat ears. Once the ears were free, they twitched and twisted around, obviously not fake.

Takeo just stared at them blankly for a few seconds before sighing. "That's why you wore a hat." Frankenstein was looking into it, it wasn't causing Tao problems (assumedly); panicking about the sudden change wasn't necessary.

"Yup," Tao said, nodding. "I've got a tail too."

He blinked, trying to work out if Tao was joking out of habit. Except in this case… Takeo half stood up to peer over the back of the sofa – and he really did have a tail.

M-21 came back inside then, his hands empty, looking more relaxed.

"So, we're having breakfast now and then M-21's gonna try and teach me how to control my claws. Wanna come?" Tao asked, his tail swinging around in slow strokes.

It made sense to do that, if Tao was already accidently damaging things in Frankenstein's house; it'd be better for their health if they kept it to a minimum. But just in case M-21 minded, Takeo raised an eyebrow in M-21's direction and got a small smile and a dip of the head in return.

"Yeah," he replied, standing up properly. They didn't know if Tao's transformation was permanent or not, but they'd work with it no matter what was going to happening.

* * *

Written for No True Pair's prompt, 'M-21 has been kidnapped! Is Takeo ready to rush to M-21's rescue? Or is he/she involved in the abduction?' The _weakest _of all ties, but eh. XD

Takeo's referring to one of the chapters in the novel: Tao buys so much stuff he ends up camping out on _M-21's floor _because he doesn't have any space in his room to sleep. XDDD

Maybe the reason why no-one uses the TV is because they're always interrupted before they can. *wry* I don't think we've actually seen a remote for it (then again, Tao probably bought one with voice controls or something).


	4. Part 4

**Summary**: Tao has an itch.

Written for No True Pair's prompt, 'Tao and M-21: aphrodisiacs/pollen/aliens made them do it'.

You can thank Kaelin for this fic. :P

I AM SO SORRY FOR THIS. …Okay, not really. I just love writing cracky transformation fic. :D

* * *

**************Side Effect**

By Dark Ice Dragon

* * *

That – rah, dammit! Okay, Tao knew cats liked to be petted, but he'd thought that was because they didn't have the reach for some places – like the back of their head. Which he was vigorously scratching right at that moment, especially around the base of his ears but _nothing_. It kind of felt like the itchy spots were right in the centre of where the ears had formed –which made sense; new skin and fur growing and all that- and that _sucked_ if that was the case because how was he supposed to scratch _that_?

Tao was pretty sure he was going to start yowling in frustration soon, his tail lashing as he stalked through the house. Maybe it really was a thing to have someone else petting you. Well, he was going to find out as soon as he found someone.

The living room was busy, someone at the fridge and Tao could hear Takeo and M-21 chatting about…something. He wasn't really paying attention; he just navigated by his ears, dropping down next to someone and then sprawled over their lap.

"Hey, can you-" Oh. Oooh, whoever's lap he was on knew _exactly _where to rub and Tao stretched out, his claws extending (but not going near the leather; it would be a lot harder replacing that without the Boss noticing!).

"MrrRrrr." Yeah, there was no way he could stop his purr, especially when that itch was _finally _going. He was not going to move until it was completely gone.

Well, okay, maybe just a little, he thought as he shuffled a bit so whoever's lap he was on had better access to his ears.

xOx

What the hell was Tao _doing_?

M-21 wasn't breathing as he stared at Tao. His conversation with Takeo had already stalled when Tao came into the room, obviously distracted with his ears (Was he having problems hearing? Was his transformation progressing?).

Before anyone could ask him what was wrong, Tao had proceeded to throw himself over _Rai's lap _and ask for-!

And Rai was giving them to him; M-21 didn't think Tao knew whose lap he was on, purring away, his tail batting left and right (he couldn't – he wouldn't have approached Rai like that. Or _at all _for that).

Of all things that Tao's transformation could lead to, M-21 had never thought something like _this _would happen.

If it had just been he and Takeo in the room – no, they would still be panicking, keeping a watch on the doors, prepared to yank Tao off Rai as soon as someone came close to any of the doors.

But it wasn't just the four of them – Tao just _had_ to pick the time to do that when _Frankenstein_ was in the room at the same time. There were already wisps of his black and purple aura solidifying into view and M-21 could feel a bead of sweat trickling down his face, his skin prickling. The smile Frankenstein wore was fixed and unmoving, the kind when he _had _to put up a polite front instead of doing something violent.

M-21 itched to get out of the blast radius of Frankenstein's wrath, but he couldn't leave Tao in this situation either!

Someone was going to have to try and distract Frankenstein while the other person somehow smuggled Tao off Rai's lap and out the room. And then hid him for the next month.

He glanced at Takeo and received a tight nod. Taking a breath, M-21 stood up first and started to brainstorm what he could try to do or say to distract Frankenstein.

* * *

Yes, I put the prompt at the start so you'd draw the wrong conclusions. *shot*


	5. Part 5

**Summary**: M-21 was growling at Tao.

Not sure which wolf!M-21 this is. I think he's more Night Disturbance!M-21.

…The online resources for cat body language aren't as good as the dog ones.

* * *

**************Side Effect**

By Dark Ice Dragon

* * *

M-21 was growling at Tao. Which wasn't surprising, considering how the full moon was peeking through the window behind M-21; still, he and Takeo had been hoping M-21's feelings would outweigh the wolf instincts, if they did decide to mark Tao as 'invading his territory', as M-21 had described it. Tao could feel his tail start to curl at the sound, his ears twitching, and yeeeah, he should probably get out the way before his _own_ instincts started to kick in fully – okay, they already had, and it was getting a little distracting how one part of his head was yammering on about a 'threat' being in front of him and that he should be doing something about it. _Right now_.

And apparently Tao also had some fur running down the back of his neck because he could _feel _the hair raising there.

There was a clearing of the throat to Tao's left, and, for once, his ears didn't move to focus on it. Damn.

"M-21," Takeo said, and M-21…_didn't _stop staring at him and – oh, right. Tao slowly blinked once and then turned his head away, breaking eye contact, his ears swivelling to stay on M-21. While how the tail moved meant different things to canines and felines, at least eye contact was universal between them.

M-21's growl lowered a notch, but it was still there and Tao's instincts started yelling at him to _run_when he heard M-21 start to approach him, M-21's body language stiff.

"I should walk between you two?" Takeo asked, already moving.

"Haha, yeah," Tao said quickly, shifting the weight on his feet, leaning towards M-21's bedroom door. "Else you're probably going to have to keep us separate by our scruffs." If he hadn't found himself stuck to the damn _ceiling _first. And then he'd have to explain to the Boss about the holes and footprints in the walls, erk.

Except Takeo being a physical barrier between them _didn't_ have the desired effect of distracting M-21 away from him - M-21's growl ratcheted up to a _snarl _and between one blink and the next, Takeo was on the ground, M-21 on top of him.

_Dammit-!_

Tao had taken two steps towards them when he realised that M-21 wasn't attacking Takeo but had just draped himself all over him, his head buried in the crook of Takeo's neck.

Uh…? M-21 didn't seem to be doing anything - he was gripping Takeo's other shoulder and…rubbing…his face…

"Oh." Tao chuckled weakly as things slotted into place and M-21 raised his head to him - his expression wasn't as suspicious, more concentrated.

"Tao…?" Takeo's hands were raised at the elbows, but they weren't touching M-21, hovering by his torso.

M-21 didn't look down at Takeo, but at his _shoulder _and that just confirmed it for Tao. M-21 lowered his head to sniff at Takeo before he glanced back at Tao, his head cocked to the side.

Tao just waited, fairly sure what was going to happen next. "Sooo, you know how I usually put my arm around your shoulders…?" Tao said conversationally, making sure not to stare back at M-21, his ears and tail finally relaxing.

"Ye – you're serious," Takeo said, a groan in his voice as he thumped his head on the floor, his hands dropping too.

"Heh, yeah – he's territorial," Tao said, seeing M-21 approach him, more curiously this time. Bad enough that there was a cat 'invading' his territory – a cat that had put his scent all over one of his packmates? That led to an unhappy wolfed-out M-21.

On the other hand, at least his scent was still eventually recognisable and Tao grinned as M-21 only paused for a second before headbutting him in the thigh.

But now they just had to wonder if this was going to happen at every full moon…

xOx

M-21 stared at Tao. "You're going to do what?" Because he couldn't have heard that correctly.

"Hug you," Tao said as seriously as he had the first time, and no, M-21 hadn't misheard him. "I'm going to have to do that as often as possible so wolf-you can get used to my scent."

M-21 sighed as he closed his eyes. "All right, fine." If it helped him not attack his comrades, then it was an easy choice.

Tao let out a whoop and M-21 wasn't hugged - he was _tackled_.

* * *

I am seriously having so much fun writing from Tao's pov. XD

Also, Takeo should be glad that M-21 hadn't tried to re-mark him through _other_ means. :| (Was also thinking about M-21 re-marking him via licking) (Okay, yeah, those scenarios wouldn't actually happen, but I had fun imagining them.)


	6. Part 6

**Summary**: M-21 buys something.

I think I should stop telling Kaelin my plotbunnies – all she does is encourage them…

* * *

**************Side Effect**

By Dark Ice Dragon

* * *

Tao glanced up at the knock on his bedroom door, and grinned at – huh. "What did you buy?" he asked, his ears pricking in interest, seeing M-21's smirk and the bag in his hand.

M-21 didn't say anything as he walked in, his hand digging into the bag as soon as he had closed the door.

"Is this about the wolf ears?" Tao asked, his own ears straining to hear if whatever M-21 had bought gave itself away, the tips of his tail twitching. He'd bought the ears so they could match! Tao hadn't been able to find a tail that wasn't just a floppy piece of fabric though, and maybe he should just _make_M-21 a motorised version of wolf ears and tail? …That could be a fun project to start, actually.

"Yeah, it is," M-21 admitted, and Tao's eyebrows rose.

"Rea-" Oh. Tao started snickering. M-21 had bought one of those brightly coloured cat toys on a string. Good to see he'd finally relaxed enough to joke back though. "My instincts are not that…" Tao tracked the green thing as M-21 waved it, feeling something in his head just _click_. "Do that again."

He heard M-21 snort, but he still did what Tao asked him, and the mouse jumped again. Tao could feel his brain switching gears, not seeing 'cat toy', but seeing 'prey' instead, and suddenly everything was focused on having it between his paws.

He slunk off his chair, and M-21 said something, one of Tao's ears twitching at the sound, but Tao ignored him – his prey was right there in front of him! He tried to creep up as silently as he could, watching his prey carefully as it – dropped down in front of him.

Tao pounced, a yowl of delight escaping his lips at catching it and–

"What are you doing?"

-uh. Tao looked up at the upside-down Takeo standing at his doorway. "Yaong?" he said past the mouse in his mouth. He rolled over to spit it out and started to bat it between his hands.

"…I'm burning that," M-21 said.

"What, why?" Tao said, his ears flattening. "It's – uh. Actually, I think you should," he agreed, wincing as he stopped what he was doing. Because, wow, that had tripped his instincts hard.

"Did you buy any catnip?" Tao asked, getting to his feet, retracting his claws, grinning at Takeo as he eyed the remnants of the toy. If that was how he reacted to a toy, Tao didn't want to know how he was going to react to kitty-drugs.

"No," M-21 said, shaking his head.

"Heh, okay, good." Tao made a face. "Now I gotta eat something that washes the taste of wool out my mouth." Yuck.

* * *

'Yaong' is the onomatopoeia sound cats make in Korea.

There are already motorised ears that react to your emotions, but Tao would make them ~better~.


	7. Part 7

**Summary**: Just your typical day – nothing unusual here…

Since I have no idea the next time I'll have stable internet...

* * *

**************Side Effect**

By Dark Ice Dragon

* * *

Tao grinned at the black-and-white tabby cat perched on Boss' garden wall. "You might want to move along, buddy – if Boss catches you shedding here, he might skin you to make an example to all the other cats in the neighbourhood." Not that Tao thought Boss _would_ do that, but Takeo and M-21 were taking some time getting ready for work and he had to talk to _somebody_.

The cat fixed him with an arch stare that it would make Regis take notes. "_And does your 'Boss' skin you when you shed?_"

…Uh. "What?" He hadn't _heard _that, the cat hadn't moved her mouth (the voice 'sounded' female, anyway), but he had still understood her perfectly.

A flick of the tail. "_You are a nekomata, are you not?_"

"Nooo?" How to explain what had happened to him to a cat. How to explain 'modified human' to a cat. …He was talking to a cat.

Tao had no idea how, but he knew the cat was amused. "_You smell like a nekomata, you have ears and a tail and_-"

"Hey, wait," Tao said, narrowing his eyes juuust a little bit. "How do you know that?" His tail was jammed down his trousers, he was wearing his hat, and he _knew_they weren't in view right then.

"_Your house has windows." _The cat sniffed. "_And the whole city knows about _you_, living with that werewolf._"

"Wow," Tao said, sarcasm creeping into his tone, "you make that sound offensive." Yeah, sure, he was talking to a cat, but he wasn't going to let anyone insult his comrades in front of him. "Who cares who-" Not _what_. "-I'm living with?" He may joke about M-21's lycanthropy, but that was all they were: jokes - nothing intended to actually hurt or entail that was all there was to M-21.

"_He's a werewolf_." Said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "_They stink_."

"Horror," Tao said, his voice flat. He gave the cat a bored look as he crossed his arms, feeling his ears flatten under his hat, his throat starting to rumble. "You should leave."

"_Hmph_." The cat did, though, disappearing over the other side of the wall.

"Trying to talk to cats now?" he heard M-21 say behind him.

"Feh," he declared, turning around and leaping at him. M-21 caught him like he always did, allowing Tao to hug him. "They're a bunch of gossipers, the lot of them."

He saw Takeo's raised eyebrows, felt M-21 turn his head towards him, but he wasn't going to tell them the details; they didn't need to know.

* * *

Well, if M-21 can talk to dogs in the novel…

All the cats think their household is _weird_.

This fic started off intending to be lighthearted. Then the cat insulted M-21. Everything just went downhill from there.


	8. Part 8

**Summary**: Tao was growling as he stared out the window.

So I was originally going to have all these cats rubbing themselves on Tao to make a point, and to say, 'hi, he's ours, go away', but then that would mean they'd be rubbing werewolf scent on them so…

* * *

**************Side Effect**

By Dark Ice Dragon

* * *

Tao was growling as he stared out the window, and M-21 frowned – Tao had been acting off lately. Tense. It didn't help that M-21 had started to notice that any cats that crossed their path stopped and stared at them. Mostly at M-21, though it was sometimes hard to tell when he was standing alongside Takeo and Tao. M-21 wouldn't have put too much thought into it (he had a werewolf's heart, so they were probably reacting to his scent) but Tao's reaction to it every time it happened -sometimes even _glaring _at the cat- made M-21 wonder if there was something else going on.

He peered around Tao and wasn't that surprised to see a cat sitting in Frankenstein's garden, gazing up at them. It left instantly, stretching first, but M-21 blinked at Tao when he muttered, "I still don't care."

"Tao?" he asked, and Tao flinched, spinning around, his ears flat while his tail hit M-21 in the leg.

"It's noth – ing…?" Tao said, wincing at M-21's raised eyebrow. "You're not going to believe that, huh?"

"No."

Tao scratched the back of his head, his gaze going everywhere but at M-21. "Cats…like to talk, apparently – they also don't approve of a young, easily impressionable nekomata such as myself being in the company of a feral werewolf, where I could be led astray." Tao huffed dramatically, crossing his arms; while his tone was light, his ears were still flat on his skull, his eyes narrowed.

"You're…not joking," M-21 said carefully, bemused. They were _cats_, but if Tao could understand them and hear them all the time… If the reverse were true and he heard dogs saying similar things about Tao… Yeah, he'd be pissed off about it too.

"No," Tao said, sighing. "Really, humans, nekomata, werewolves _and _nobles all living under the same roof!" Tao had pitched his voice higher, probably mimicking the cats' tone. "They should keep to their own kind and – ugh." Tao grimaced, dropping his voice to its normal range. "It's really annoying."

"There isn't a way to stop hearing them?" M-21 asked. Which seemed like a stupid question, but Tao hadn't seemed to have this problem before.

Tao shook his head. "It's like a switch flipped in my brain one day and I can't flip it back." Tao shrugged. "I tried talking to them, but they just talked over me, saying they know better. That, and I'd have to talk to _every _cat I see."

M-21 sighed. There wasn't anything they could do about it, then.

xOx

Tao jerked back when he felt something brush against his leg as he closed the door to the house after another day of work, trying to make sure he didn't accidently stand on anything. It had been small enough to slip through his, Takeo's and M-21's legs, and Tao was fairly sure it was completely white. It was probably a cat.

"Tao…?"

"Help me catch it before Boss comes home?" Tao said, peering out the front door, making sure Boss wasn't in sight yet. Being able to talk to cats would actually be helpful here, if it listened to him. If it didn't, well, the phrase 'herding cats' was more than appropriate.

"That's not the problem," Takeo murmured, and Tao blinked, glancing at him in confusion. Takeo was staring at the cat and when Tao turned to look at it, he could see he'd been right about it being pure white.

It also had a forked tail.

"Oh, come on!" Tao said, nudging the door closed with his elbow. Obviously, it wasn't going to leave until they'd had a talk. "You're staging an intervention now?"

"No," the nekomata said - _properly _said, with its mouth moving and everything. It shuddered and its form stretched and changed until a wizened old man stood in front of them, wearing a yellow t-shirt and a pair of jeans. He also had an impressive set of white cat ears on top of his head, tufted at the tips, his tail looking thick enough that Tao didn't think he could touch his own fingertips if he grabbed it.

"…Huh," Tao said, "I was expecting you to be an old woman. And wearing more formal clothes," he added. That was what the research he'd found had said anyway – not the formal clothes, but if nekomata were usually old women, it stood that they probably also wore older clothes.

The nekomata gave him a wry look. "You live with nobles and a werewolf-"

"He's not a werewolf," Tao cut in, his mood dropping instantly. Wow, this conversation was already going great.

"…No, he's not," the nekomata agreed after delicately sniffing the air, eyeing M-21 and nodding. "My apologies."

"That's…all right," M-21 said, and Tao could hear the thread of uncertainty under his words. …He really had to work on how M-21 accepted apologies. On the other hand, he'd actually accepted it instead of not responding, so that was some progress.

"As I was saying," the nekomata said, straightening his t-shirt, "you live with nobles – you should be aware the tales humans spin are not that close to the truth." The nekomata peered at him. "You are a nekomata – you-"

"I'm not a nekomata," Tao said, his ears flattening under his hat. "Why does every cat think I am?"

The nekomata was beginning to frown, his eyebrows drawing in slightly. "Because our noses don't lie."

"You were wrong about M-21," Tao said, his eyes narrowed. He felt Takeo's hand on his shoulder.

"We should take this upstairs, in case the children arrive," Takeo said.

Damn, that was a good point. The children walking in on him arguing with a cat would look a tad bit weird – if the nekomata was able to turn back in time. If not, okay, Tao was sure he could spin it to something the children would accept (cosplayer, maybe?) but it'd be better if they weren't interrupted.

"My room's-"

"I know where it is," the nekomata said, a small sigh in his voice. He opened the door and then changed back into his cat form, ducking through the gap.

Tao sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose once the nekomata was gone from sight.

"You aren't surprised he knows," M-21 said.

"No," Tao grumbled as he changed shoes. "They've all been spying on me enough to watch me in the _shower_, so they know where my room is." He was surprised Boss hadn't mentioned anything about them yet, but maybe it was because they'd stayed outside so far.

Takeo stared at him. "Why are they…?"

Tao grimaced. "They don't think I'm washing myself properly." No, he wasn't going to start licking himself just because they'd told him to, and he wasn't going to let them wash him either!

"How old do they think you are?" M-21 asked as they started heading towards his room, except he wasn't hiding his smile, and Tao jabbed him in the ribs for that.

"I'm thinking kitten." Then again, seeing how some of the stuff he read had said nekomata could grow to the size of a _tiger_, he probably did seem really small in comparison. Tao took off his hat as soon as the living room door closed behind them, ruffling his hair and rubbing his ears, getting the feeling back in them after they'd been trapped for yet another day. He pulled his tail out after that, stroking it a couple of times before he let it swing over his trousers.

The nekomata was already in his human form when they reached Tao's room. As soon as they entered, the nekomata stared at Tao's tail, his own tail stilling.

"So you do have a forked tail," he murmured.

Tao raised his eyebrows as he tossed his hat onto his computer desk. "Yeeeah? I thought that was one of the most distinctive traits to a nekomata?" It was in the name, after all.

The nekomata sent him an amused look. "According to humans."

Aah, right, yeah. "So, not all nekomata have forked tails?" he asked, his tail batting against both Takeo and M-21, checking they were both still there.

"No," the nekomata said, and he really was staring at Tao in confusion now. "Our tails only split once we reach of age, or when we're treated badly enough to want to take revenge against those who hurt us." Both ears twitched down for a second. "You should know this."

Tao hissed, his ears flattening, feeling his hair bristle. "I'm _not_a nekomata!" He was getting tired of repeating himself, but none of the cats were listening!

The nekomata blinked very slowly, still looking confused, both his ears pinned on him. "You don't remember being born as one?"

"No, I do – on't…" Tao frowned. No, he didn't remember being born as a nekomata, because he didn't remember anything of his life before waking up in Doctor Aris' lab.

"Your tail and ears are proof enough that you have nekomata blood – my nose tells me you're full-blooded, unlike your friend there," the nekomata said quietly, gazing at Tao. "It's different from other nekomata," he admitted, his nose wrinkling, "but you were born a nekomata."

Wait, what…? That – was he saying…? "I really am a nekomata?" fell out of Tao's mouth. "But I don't have-" Well, he was surrounded by 'vampires' and a 'werewolf' and they weren't what regular people thought they were supposed to be, so nekomata probably didn't have powers. It was a shame – if he'd been able to raise the dead or have fire powers, that would have been so cool!

"It makes you a very rare case," the nekomata said, his voice quiet, making Tao blink. He was sounding even more sombre than before, which, considering he'd already been sombre, was quite a feat. "When our tails split, we gain our powers at the same time – they're needed for when we get their revenge on those who had hurt us. The stronger the power-"

"The worse they'd been hurt," Tao finished, humming. So what did that mean if it was applied to him? He'd been hurt in the Union, so he should have gotten a split tail and powers during then, instead of sprouting a tail and ears for no reason later. Unless he'd just came of age in nekomata years – and how old was he really, then? Or how many years did a nekomata live before they were of age?

The nekomata nodded. "Even those whose tail splits when they come of age develop powers, though they aren't as strong." The nekomata blinked at him, his head tilted to the side. "You didn't, and that means you've been treated with kindness in your life, enough to balance out how much you've been hurt before it." The nekomata paused, considering him with a gentle look in his eyes. "You're content with your life."

…Huh. Tao definitely wasn't going to disagree with _that_.

"There are few of us who feel that way," the nekomata said softly. He opened Tao's window and then turned into his cat form – it was a little weird seeing him walking along on his hind legs, but so long as he didn't do that outside, Tao wasn't going to say anything. Probably. "I'll tell the other cats to stop bothering you – these people have made you happy, and that's what matters." Under his breath, the nekomata muttered, "Now I can be left alone to finish my holiday."

Before Tao could say anything, the nekomata jumped out his window.

Tao let out a _long_ breath before turning to Takeo and M-21, a grin on his face. "Wanna see how long it takes me to learn how to turn into a cat?" Because, damn, he wanted to learn how to do that!

* * *

I say I want to write more wolf!M-21, yet all that comes out of my brain is cat!Tao. Surprisingly plotty cat!Tao. I partially blame Lucathia.

…What happened to my cracky non-plot. This was supposed to be my dumping ground for inconsequential stuff. Not to mention, I thought I was writing this part for Tao to actually _develop _his nekomata powers in this part. Apparently not. orz Tao, whenever you're involved, the fic never goes quite how I want it…

Also, nekomata in the older tales ate humans. No wonder the cats are confused.

On the one hand, I'm annoyed Takeo and M-21 are just standing in the background, doing and saying nothing; on the other hand, it's _Takeo and M-21._

…The title of this collection is no longer relevant. XD;;;;

WHY ARE MY NOTES SO HUGE?


	9. Part 9

**Summary**: Tao tries to turn into a cat.

Haha, thanks to phireye for helping with prompting the second half of this part. XD

* * *

**************Side Effect**

By Dark Ice Dragon

* * *

"We are _not _helping you," M-21 said firmly.

"Ah, come on!" Tao wheedled, turning to look at Takeo. "It shouldn't take that long."

"You don't even know if you can," Takeo pointed out, sighing into his palm.

"Won't know unless I try," Tao said, already formulating at least six different ideas. "Turning into a cat doesn't have anything to do with revenge though – maybe I was born as a cat!" Which was a weird but interesting thought. He'd never felt an urge to start moving along on four limbs though, but nekomata also walked on two legs, so maybe that was why he hadn't. And he hadn't started getting cat instincts until he got his tail. Hm.

It was M-21 who sighed next. "You aren't going to stop until you've tried."

"Of course not!" Tao exclaimed. "I can turn into a _cat_. If you could turn into a wolf, wouldn't you want to try?"

M-21 just raised an eyebrow at him.

"_Properly _turn into a wolf," Tao corrected himself.

"No," M-21 said flatly.

Tao chuckled. Okay, no, M-21 wouldn't. "But what if I need to in a fight?"

"Why would you need to turn into a cat?" Takeo asked, shaking his head.

"I need to…" Hm, 'squeeze into a small space' didn't work, because he could jump right over an obstacle, and unless he was tiger-sized –and even then, actually- he'd be able to leap further in his human form anyway. "I have the ability to, and I want to." If trying to convince them didn't work, then the truth was the next best thing. "Sooo? Are you going to help?"

Takeo and M-21 shared a look and didn't leave.

Heh.

xOx

"Well, _that _didn't work," Tao said as he threw himself into his chair. He'd tried everything they could think of and viably do – thinking about being a cat, imagining turning into a cat, being at one with the cat, even being in danger, except Takeo and M-21 had vetoed that one as soon as Tao had voiced it. It had barely twitched his tail.

"Maybe it _is _an acquired power," Takeo suggested, leaning on his bed.

Tao shook his head, standing up. "It doesn't seem right though." He didn't think it would have anything to do with revenge.

"You're talking about turning into a cat," M-21 said dryly.

"So?" Tao said as he started taking off his suit jacket. "We've seen weirder."

Neither Takeo or M-21 made a comment to that, like Tao thought they would, because it was true.

Tao's hand felt weird when he pulled it out the sleeve and he blinked down at it before he presented it to Takeo and M-21 with a grin. "Knew I could turn into a cat!" Or at least had the ability to turn into a cat – Tao's hand had changed into a furry black paw. He kept trying to move his fingers and he could see they were, but they didn't have the range Tao was used to. Getting his claws out was easy though.

"Does this mean I have to get naked?" Tao mused, feeling the tug of the suit jacket on his other shoulder.

"The other nekomata didn't," M-21 pointed out.

Hm, that was a good point. So, it was something else mental, where he had to think like he was changing clothes… Oh, that _was _simple.

It wasn't about a state of being or how he thought – he was merely changing forms like someone changed clothes.

Tao closed his eyes and concentrated, thinking about shedding not his clothes, but his skin, the skin of a cat replacing it. He could feel his body changing, far more extensive than when he took the D drug; he fell forward onto his paws when his hips no longer allowed him to stand up straight on two legs.

Once he didn't feel any more change happening, Tao opened his eyes.

To someone's shin.

"I'm not tiger-sized," he stated, drooping, and wow, talking with fangs was weird.

"No," Takeo said.

"Damn." Tao looked down at himself, curious to know what he looked like. He was nearly completely black, except for one white sock on his right foreleg and - uh-oh.

"You're getting a haircut," M-21 said flatly.

Tao's ears flattened. There was no way he could argue with that though, not when his fur reached the floor while he was still standing; Tao wasn't keen on finding out if the Boss _would _skin him if he shed all over the carpet.

Tao pushed himself up onto his hind legs and he tottered there for a second, his tail straightening as he settled a paw on –he glanced up- Takeo's shin to help him keep his balance. It felt like he was walking around on his toes, his knees continually bent, and Tao started practicing how to walk in his cat form. "Can we check if I'll – woah!" Tao fell forward, landing on all fours.

"Haircut. _Now_."

"…Yeah, definitely going to need one," Tao agreed. Tripping over his own fur would get annoying _really _quickly. "Still need to see if I'll revert to having long fur when I change back," he pointed out. It would be a waste to give him a thorough haircut for it to all grow back again when he changed back into that form later.

Tao heard someone sigh, and then M-21 was crouched next to him, his hands transformed into claws.

He didn't move when he felt M-21's hands on him, and M-21 stepped away a second later to put the handful of Tao's fur into the bin. Tao looked over his shoulder and saw the line M-21 had cut on his left side, a square of empty space – it would be obvious if that patch regrew.

Tao's suit jacket was still hanging off his shoulder when he changed back and Tao took it off and tossed it onto his bed, changing forms before it had landed.

"It's still gone," Takeo told him.

"Haircut it is, then," Tao said, wondering if they would cut the rest of his hair off in the same way.

* * *

I felt like we should have seen them trying and failing, but it refused to come. After a week of nothing, I decided to go with what the fic wanted. Rest of the fic was written in about an hour. ORZ


	10. Part 10

**Summary**: Tao thinks Takeo is being left out.

Yet another fic where I thought it would barely skim 50 words when finished.

Feel like I should say this day isn't the same day as Part 9. XD;

* * *

**************Side Effect**

By Dark Ice Dragon

* * *

When Tao left his bedroom after changing out of his work clothes, he hugged M-21 as soon as he saw him, burying his face in M-21's shoulder; he was sure his ears were tickling M-21's, and while M-21 didn't seem to be reacting to it, Tao tilted his head away anyway.

He saw Takeo standing behind M-21, and before he thought about it too hard, Tao reached over and grabbed a fistful of Takeo's shirt and yanked him towards them.

_Now _M-21 made a startled sound, a second after Takeo's, and Tao moved his arms so they encircled them both.

"Don't think M-21 should be getting _all _the hugs," Tao explained. "And I'm sure he'd be glad I'm not hugging him all the time."

M-21 huffed. "You don't hug me _that _often."

Tao blinked, a grin growing on his face. "Oh?" he drawled, and he felt M-21 freeze in anticipation. "You sound like you want me to hug you more!" He could very easily do that.

"You-" M-21 stopped, shaking his head. "I can't stop you once you've decided to do something."

"I haven't decided yet," Tao said. But if M-21 thought he wasn't getting a lot of hugs… Tao patted Takeo's back. "You fallen asleep back there?"

"No." There was a pause, and Tao felt Takeo's muscles contract before Takeo's hands were lightly placed on his back.

"Heh." Tao rested his chin on M-21's shoulder, giving them both a brief squeeze.

Now, if he could get _M-21_ to hug back, that would be awesome.


	11. Part 11

**Summary**: Tao was staring at Regis.

* * *

**************Side Effect**

By Dark Ice Dragon

* * *

Regis could feel someone's gaze on him as he worked on his Maths homework. Seeing as there was only one other person in the dining room…

"Why are you staring, Tao?"

"Eheheh, no…particular reason." Tao cleared his throat.

Regis stopped writing and glanced up, not moving his head. Tao was frowning in his direction, his head tilted to the side. When Tao saw that he was caught, he grinned, both ears perking up.

"Tao, you're disturbing me while I do my homework." It didn't always work, but sometimes it did.

"And you're distracting _me_ with your hair!" Tao protested.

Regis set his pen down, looking up fully. "And what is it about my hair that's distracting you?" It was no different than it usually was, and Regis resisted the urge to check, in case Tao was joking with him again.

"It's-" Tao gestured with both hands towards his own head, his fingers pointing towards his temple. "They stick out."

He raised an eyebrow, realising what Tao was talking about. "They always have."

Tao's ears briefly flattened. "My instincts are telling me your hair's _messy_."

"Then ignore them." Regis picked his pen up and continued to do his homework.

He was only able to write a few characters before he sighed, still feeling Tao's eyes on him. Regis patted down his hair with his free hand. "Better?"

"Nooot really, no." A small pause. "Can I-?"

Regis sent him a dry look. "You aren't going to stop until you're satisfied."

"Pretty much," Tao admitted, a sheepish grin on his face.

He closed his eyes for a few seconds, mulling over his options. Even if he were to ignore Tao, Tao would still continue to be a distractor, and, knowing Tao, may decide to sort out the problem himself - without consulting Regis first.

"Do as you see fit," Regis said, opening his eyes and starting to work on his homework again.

"Really?"

"I thought your hearing was better?"

"Heh. Just double-checking!"

Regis heard a light scrape as Tao brought over a chair and set it down gently beside him. Regis's writing slowed as he tried to formulate his answer, seeing Tao's hand reach towards him from the corner of his eyes at the same time.

Tao's touch was surprisingly gentle, almost hesitant, and far less obtrusive than Regis expected. He waited to hear Tao humming, but it didn't come. After a few seconds, Regis began focusing on finishing his homework again.

Once he had completed it, he would check to see if Tao had added anything to his hair.


	12. Part 12

**Summary**: Tao was scratching his head again.

* * *

**************Side Effect**

By Dark Ice Dragon

* * *

Tao was scratching his head again. Seeing what had happened the last time, Takeo glanced around, making sure there was no-one else in the vicinity. There wasn't, and Tao would find it harder to throw himself on someone's lap since they were standing in one of Frankenstein's corridors.

"You have another itch?" Takeo asked, walking over.

Tao made a face. "No. I've just lost feeling in my ears after all that time spent inside the hat." He continued rubbing his ears, grumbling. "Maybe I should widen it or something, but that won't really work – the angles of my ears are all wrong," Tao said, his voice lowering as he started to muse.

Takeo eyed him for a second. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Tao blinked and then lit up, his ears pricking towards him. "Well, if you wanna rub them for a bit…?" he said hopefully.

"Yeah." He could do that.

"Thanks!" Tao cheered, before he enveloped Takeo in a hug, nuzzling his cheek.

Bemused, Takeo led them back to his room once Tao let him go. "Is it really that annoying?" He hadn't expected that strong a reaction from Tao.

"I can't feel them!" Tao complained, shaking his head. "A couple of weeks ago, I was used to not thinking about my ears; now, it's _weird_ if I can't make 'em do what I want. Or at least feel like I can make them do whatever I want," he amended.

Takeo watched Tao's ears as they flicked up and down, twisting around in separate directions for a few seconds before he stared around his room. "How do you want to do this?"

Tao shrugged, his ears still twitching. "Whatever gives you the easiest access to my ears, I guess."

A couple of different possibilities flashed through Takeo's mind before he sighed and sat on his bed.

"My head on your lap?" Tao asked as he followed him.

"Unless you want to sit on the floor," Takeo replied. And since he was talking to Tao, that was still an option.

"Heh, nah," Tao said as he flopped onto Takeo's bed and then lay his head across Takeo's legs. "This is comfier."

Takeo stared down at Tao's head, finally fully realising what he'd offered to do. Uncertainly, Takeo reached over and settled a palm on Tao's head using his index finger and thumb to rub Tao's ear. It was softer than he expected, the hair on Tao's ears finer than the ones on his head.

"You can do it harder than that," Tao said, snickering, the ear flicking slightly. "You aren't going to rip it off."

"You know my strength," Takeo said dryly. A thin fold of skin wouldn't last against the strength he had to be able to deal with the recoil of his guns.

"Unless you're _trying_ to rip it off," Tao said, and Takeo could feel him roll his eyes, "you aren't going to. I somehow don't think you're going to massage them by trying to yank them off my skull."

All right, he could agree with that. Takeo put a bit more pressure between his strokes, using his entire hand, and was rewarded with a purr. "Mmm, a little lower – yeah."

Takeo couldn't help smiling a little bit at how loudly Tao was already purring, briefly wondering if he knew. Except he wouldn't care and Takeo knew it. After a few minutes, Takeo turned his attention to Tao's other ear and repeated what he'd been doing.

Tao's purring had started sounding different and Takeo frowned, resting his hand on Tao's shoulder – it was more continuous, more a drone than a rise and dip in response to Takeo's movements, and Takeo realised what had happened when he heard just how deeply Tao was breathing.

He'd fallen asleep.

Takeo sighed, staring down at Tao helplessly. Well, it wasn't going to be long until dinner anyway…

* * *

So I petted a cat for a while, just to try and work the movements Takeo would try and do. Said cat was very happy and content. XD


	13. Part 13

**Summary**: A cat wants to tell Tao something important.

Contains mentions of death.

I tried to make the fic plotty. This is what happened.

* * *

**************Side Effect**

By Dark Ice Dragon

* * *

Tao gave the tortoiseshell cat a quick glance as he, Takeo, and M-21 walked back from the school. Since the nekomata had visited them, the number of cats Tao had seen around had decreased, and the ones that he did see tended to leave him alone.

This one didn't.

As soon as it saw him, it looked around and trotted over to his side, rubbing itself over his legs.

"Hey there," he said, crouching down to pet it between the ears. If he'd read that right, the cat was trying to make sure they were alone, and Tao glanced around too – the closest person at the other end of the street.

"_There are weird smelling humans in the city again,_" the cat told him, her voice slightly higher than the other cats Tao had heard.

He froze, blinking, and peered into her green eyes. "I'm surprised you're telling me this," he murmured, bringing his pocket computer out with his other hand. He saw Takeo and M-21 shift on their feet from the corner of his eyes when he did that, their stances changing. He didn't look up at them, his full attention on the cat.

The cat flicked her tail. "_Every time they come, there's death. Not just humans, but cats as well. And..._" The cat paused, her ears slowly going down. "_We liked the humans we adopted_," she whispered.

...Ah. Tao started petting the cat again as he balanced his pocket computer on his knee and her ears perked up.

"_The scent of your household is always the strongest where the strange smelling humans die_," the cat continued, shaking herself briefly. "_You're the ones who always stop them. So – if you kill them now, before they attack, less humans and cats will die._"

"That's what we're always trying to do," Tao told her quietly, giving her a small smile. Trying to keep the death toll as low as possible. "Thanks for telling us."

The cat rubbed herself on him one last time and then looked up at M-21, who stared down at her. She didn't say anything before dashing off.

"What did it say?" Takeo asked as Tao stood up properly, hearing his back crack as he stretched.

"There're agents in the city again," Tao told them, starting to look for the most likely places they could be on his pocket computer. "And...I have a communication network now, heh," he added. That was going to be useful if the cats of the city were willing to be an early warning system for them; Tao already knew how fast news travelled with them.

"Found the agents," Tao said with a shake of his head. On the rooftops again. "Well then," he said, tilting a grin at Takeo and M-21. "Ready?"

He got two nods as a response, and together, they made their way towards where the agents had last been seen.


	14. Part 14

**Summary**: Tao tries something new.

* * *

**************Side Effect**

By Dark Ice Dragon

* * *

Tao flopped into his chair and stared up at the ceiling for a second, a small smile on his face. The fight had gone a _lot_ better than he'd expected – they'd been able to catch the agents off-guard and had hit them hard and fast enough before the agents had been able to regroup or transform, and apart from a couple of bruises on M-21's side, they were completely uninjured, which had to be a first (M-21 had still lost his sleeves though, so some things were still the same).

He hadn't even needed to fight, Takeo keeping the agents that had tried to approach them at bay, and even though Tao had wanted to try out his nekomata powers, they really weren't useful in that situation. And if he'd been _caught_ like that -

Tao blinked, raising a hand up so he could see it. Huh. Did his electricity powers work while he was in his nekomata form? He hadn't tested that yet, or checked to see if his tail splitting had affected his electricity powers. Tao clenched his hand into a fist, his hand lighting up at a thought, and when he relaxed it, the lightening disappeared. Good to know he could do it if he needed it. Now to see if he could still do it in his nekomata form.

He pushed himself off the chair and once he was on his feet, Tao changed forms - he still ended up on all fours. Hm. He needed to work on that. Tao shook a paw as he stood up on his hind legs, and his ears flattened briefly when he saw the length of his fur. Time to get another hair cut already? Damn. He'd go find M-21 once he was done.

Tao held out his paw and he grinned when it lit up. It felt nearly exactly the same, except his skin tingled a bit more than usual, but that was probably because it wasn't used to the sensation yet.

There was a knock at the door.

"It's open!" he called out as he looked up to see who it was, flexing his fingers and releasing the electricity.

"Tao, dinner's..." Miss Seira blinked down at him.

Tao tilted his head at her, his ears perked up. She knew he had this form, had seen it already before, so why-?

"Your fur's sticking up," she told him.

He looked down and started to snicker, his tail flicking from side to side to keep him balanced. He looked like about three times bigger with his fur standing on end. "Static," he explained, just in case. He tried to flatten it with a paw, but all that happened was his fur trying to tangle around each other. "I was trying to see if I could still use my electricity while in this form. I can." He switched out of his nekomata form and stretched, locking his fingers together and raising his hands over his head. Then he patted his hair, just in case the static had somehow transferred while he was changing forms - it was normal. Phew.

"Dinner's ready?" he asked, walking over to her.

"Yes," she said, nodding.

"Heh, don't want to keep everyone waiting, then." Especially if someone had already had to come up to collect him. Together, they made their way downstairs, the smell of dinner growing stronger with every step.


	15. Part 15

**Summary**: Tao makes something for M-21.

* * *

**************Side Effect**

By Dark Ice Dragon

* * *

Tao's ears twitched towards the sound of someone knocking on his door. "'S'open!" he called out, still focused on what he was working on.

He heard the door open. "What are you doing?" M-21 asked.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Tao asked him cheerfully, turning in his chair so M-21 couldn't have a proper look at it.

"...That's why I asked," M-21 said as he walked into Tao's room.

Tao made one last adjustment and then slipped on the final piece before he presented it to M-21.

"You made wolf ears," M-21 said flatly.

"And a tail!" Tao added, pointing to his bed. He'd even made sure they were the same colour as M-21's hair. M-21 didn't turn around, sighing. "Put it on, put it on," he said, handing M-21 the ears.

"You already gave me a pair," M-21 said, holding them so they wouldn't fall, but not putting them on.

"Yeah, but they didn't _do_ anything," Tao said, shaking his head. They looked nice, but that was it. "These ones do - they react to your emotions like my ones" -he flicked his ears up and down as an example- "so they're much better."

M-21 still didn't move. "Why would I want people to know how I'm feeling?"

"So I don't feel lonely."

"I wasn't ask-" M-21 cut himself off, giving Tao a dry look, and Tao just gave him a grin in response. It didn't matter that M-21 had worded it differently - he was still asking 'Why should I wear these?'

They had a staring match for a couple of seconds and then M-21 sighed, closing his eyes. "Fine," he said, putting the ears on.

Tao's grin widened, and he stood up to grab M-21's tail. "The band isn't too tight?" he asked, peering at the ears once M-21 had them on. The receptors were at the base of the band, hidden behind M-21's regular ears - that way, there wasn't the obvious receptor on the forehead like the necomimi ones.

M-21 shook his head.

"Okay, good," Tao said, handing him the tail.

It was while M-21's tail was calibrating, waving side to side, that Tao's door swung open and Tao turned to see Takeo at his doorway.

Takeo look one look at M-21 and instantly glanced at the window, where sunlight was still streaming in.

M-21's wolf ears flattened, his tail stilling.

Tao burst out laughing, at both Takeo's and M-21's reactions. "Yes, they work!" He'd been wondering how to test them properly, but it looked like he hadn't needed to.

Takeo scrutinised M-21 a little more closely and then grimaced. After he'd came into Tao's room and closed the door, Takeo asked, "You made them?"

"Of course, heh," Tao said, waving his screwdriver. "Didn't take too long." He looked at Takeo, realising something. "But then _you're_ going to be the odd one out, then." He hummed. "What kinda ears would you have?" They would have to be big, to stand out amongst his hair, or maybe with long fur, to match?

Takeo sent him a dry look. "None."

"_That's_ no fun," Tao said, huffing, and Takeo rolled his eyes. "There isn't anything that has purple fur though," he mused, tapping his screwdriver in his palm.

"Good."

Tao made a face at him. "Feathers though…" Tao said, looking Takeo up and down and he saw Takeo's eyes go wide. Yeah, birds came in a variety of colours. "I'll make you a pair of wings," Tao said, nodding. He didn't have to worry that much about the weight, but it'd be fun to see if he could make a set of light fully-sized wings. Especially if he tried to make a second pair that could fly.

The only response Takeo gave was a sigh, which Tao took as acceptance – if Takeo really didn't want it, he would have said something.

"You aren't going to get distracted by the feathers?" M-21 asked, his ears pointed towards him.

"Pfft, please," Tao said, shaking his head. He had control over his instincts.

M-21 raised an eyebrow, the ear not above it flicking down at the same time. "Cat toy."

"…Uh. Hm." Tao crossed his arms as he thought it over. He'd forgotten about that. His shoulders slumped. "Damn. I'll need to get some first and see if I will be."

Oh, he saw that look Takeo and Tao shared. Well, if real feathers didn't work, he could still etch them onto the metal, heh.

* * *

Aaaand that's the last of my plotbunnies for nekomata!Tao for me for the moment. :3


	16. Part 16

**Summary**: Takeo can't find Tao.

* * *

**************Side Effect**

By Dark Ice Dragon

* * *

Takeo peered out from the balcony, frowning. He'd searched the house from the labs to the bedrooms but he couldn't find Tao. No-one had seen him for a couple of hours either, and Tao hadn't told anyone else he was going anywhere either. It meant he should still be in the house but-

Takeo turned his head towards the faint sound of purring. It wasn't coming from inside the house but from above him… Ah. He hopped up onto the railing and swung himself onto the roof. There, in the centre of the roof, was Tao, lying mostly on his front, curled a little in on himself. His pocket computer was next to him in his shadow.

Sighing, Takeo went to Tao's side, crouching to shake his shoulder. Tao's top was warm under his palm, heated by the sun beating over their heads and Takeo wasn't surprised he'd fallen asleep.

"Gng?" Tao blinked up at him before stretching like he had the spine of a snake, yawning at the same time. "I fell asleep again?" he said, scratching under his hat.

"Yes," Takeo said, getting up at the same time Tao rolled to his feet after picking up his pocket computer.

Tao made a face as he dusted himself off. "This is getting annoying – I don't want to sleep ten hours a day!"

"Maybe you should set an alarm on your computer to go off every hour?" Takeo suggested.

"Mm, good idea!" Tao's quick grin was all the warning Takeo had before Tao stepped up to him and wrapped his arms around him.

Sighing into Tao's shoulder, Takeo returned the hug. "We should go downstairs soon," he said. "Frankenstein's ready with his next batch of ramen."

Tao snickered. "Do you think he'll try to make us have 'one more bowl'?"

Takeo snorted and let go, Tao doing the same. "Probably." Frankenstein kept trying to get them to eat one more bowl after they'd said they were full, saying he needed more data – he, Tao and M-21 had started to wonder if Frankenstein was testing how much they could eat in one sitting.

"Heh, maybe my nap'll mean I can eat more – I'm _starving_!" Tao said as they went down to the balcony.

"I'll count how many bowls you finish," Takeo said dryly.

Tao snickered. Once they were inside, Tao asked, "Are the children here?"

Takeo shook his head.

"Ah, good." Tao took off his hat, groaning as he massaged his ears. "I think my ears were getting cooked under there."

Takeo eyed the hat. "Getting a different one wouldn't help, would it?"

"Not really," Tao said, spinning it between his hands. "It needs to be a certain size so it doesn't cramp my ears too badly. But if I made one in a different colour…" Tao nodded. "All right, I know what I'm doing after this!" Tao tilted his head at him, raising his eyebrows. "Wanna help?"

"…Yeah." There wasn't any point resisting, not when he'd say 'yes' anyway.

"Great!" Tao flicked the hat in the air and caught it. "Hmm, I wonder if '21'll join in-" He would and they both knew it. "-and, oh! I could make us complimentary ones! Or maybe make them for all of the RK-5, hmm."

Takeo didn't bother hiding his groan. He would have been all right with pure black hats, but the gleam in Tao's eyes told him he had something bigger planned. On the other hand, if he and M-21 were involved, they might be able to do some damage control together.

"_After_ we've had Frankenstein's ramen," Takeo reminded him. If they were lucky, Tao would get an idea for a different project – it was doubtful, but he could hope.

"Heh, yep."

* * *

Hm, semi-recycled/repeated dialogue from part 10, but since it's a common complaint, it gets brought up a couple of times?


End file.
